I'm quite a sissy. No safety equipment - just acrobats like in a circus. I was throwing up just watching.
A very well done film with exquisite photography showing hoe these bridges are constructed. What a lot of work!
Most pitiful is that both cities are now slums.

Two masterpieces built in a five period. That's the GOLDEN GATE and THE S.F-Oakland Bay Bridges.
In the Bay Bridge case 2 bridges, and a tunnel!
At the moment Cal-Trans enngineers are struggling
to finish the replacement for the 75 year old
eastern CANTILEVER bridge. The project is in its'
6th year and has suffered a poor design concept,
substandard workmanship, and substandard materials. The latest being poorly made bolts that
will have to be removed because of inferior strength. Much of the new bridge section was
constructed with low-ball price Chinese materials
So much for USS (United States Steel) the sponsor
of our 1937 film. Considering the eastern section
has stood since the 30's, survived an jet fighter
hit in the 60's and suffered only minor damage
in the 1989 earthquake. Carried 2 transport decks
the lower deck once carried Key System electric
trains as well astrucks and busses. The 37 bridge
was of course designed with slide rules and talent. Amazing it has been a fabulous servant and
safe all this time what great generation of responsible people. Sad to say the BOOMERS and
GEN X types responsible for the infra-structure
these days don't seem up to it if this fiasco is
any indication. If we look about the USA we see
that a lot of highways and bridges need major
repair or replacement. The self-centered are not
good stewards of the common. Le's get on with it!
Everything accomplished since President Roosevelts
time is in danger. What fools these mortals be-PUCK. From Shakespeare. That a "P" not and "F"

USS built a lot of bridges around the world. In Venezuela they built the first bridge over Orinoco river (you can see it in my video Guayana) in the beginning of the 60's. This bridge today is in poor condition because there is not culture about maintenance in my country, but it is a beautiful and functional bridge. Here we can see the inexistance of security devices to work in that times. Excellent documental about the construction of the bridge of S. Francisco bay.

I came over with a queezy feeling in my stomach just watching those men clambering about on the superstructure!It must have been a huge boost to industry in those troubles times.

You either did dangerous/hard work or your family starved.....US Labor Unions were in their infancy. There were men waiting in line to replace any worker who perished or quit.
So, if you didn't do "foolish" work, they'd fire you're yellow-behind and find a "better" worker.
Different times people. Pray you never face such choices.

Dragon05701 - If their work ethic would lead them to die on the job (12 workers killed by your account) I would have to agree with spuzz, they were very foolish.

in reply to spuzz review "foolish men" osha was not established at that time the were brave men who where trying to make a living in hard times.i guess you dont understand the meaning "WORKING FOR A LIVING" OR EARNING YOUR KEEP. this is a great learning video on making a dream come true. true craftmenship-it withstood earthquakes,highwinds,and what ever else mother nature and father time could give- about a dozen men gave their life to build this dream.

US Steel produced this film to brag about their bridge building subsidiaries, and rightly so. If you have crossed a BIG suspension bridge and wondered about how the heck it was built, this film will tell you. An entertaining combination of technical detail and one-of-a-kind footage.

This film documents in detail the building of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge. If you love bridges and are fascinated with how they are built, you will probably enjoy this film. If you don't, then you'll probably find it rather dull. There are some mildly interesting scenes of construction workers climbing all over the place without any safety provisions, and U.S. Steel, who sponsored the film, puts in a plug for its products whenever they are used on the bridge. But mostly, this is pretty ordinary.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.

In this couldve-been-boring-but-it-was-alright short, the Oakland bridge building is profiled. Like the short 'Behind the Bright Lights' it shows foolish men climbing over girders, not wearing any safety equipment at all. Kinda scary. Excellent overview with very oddly primitive, but amazing effective solutions to wiring the structure. A little bit technical for the average joe, but still a fun watch.